US Auto Sales to Stay Flat in 2012 – GM Exec

The US auto industry is expected to growth rather slowly next year as sales projection of new vehicles rising slightly from 2011, an executive of General Motors Co. said on Tuesday.

The US auto industry is expected to growth rather slowly next year as sales projection of new vehicles rising slightly from 2011, an executive of General Motors Co. said on Tuesday.

Don Johnson, GM sales chief, said that growth rate in car sales would likely increase slightly in 2012, but offers a better business environment for the industry.

“We continue to believe that the industry will grow. It will grow slowly, along with the economy, and it will be flat to slightly up in 2012,” Johnson said at a Barclays conference in New York.

The US-based auto giant recently reported as lower than expected growth rate in October 2011, resulting to a drop of 10 percent in its shares early in November.

The company attributed the slack in market trading to the market volatility due to the continued concerns in the eurozone, which may undercut a slow-but-steady growth rate in vehicle sales in America.

In October, annual vehicle sales was pegged at 13.3 million units, the highest level since February 2011, while sales is expected to close at around 14 million units in November.

Johnson, on the other hand, said that there will be less pressure from Japanese carmakers in terms of sales, saying that there would be a short-term downward pressure as the country still struggles to cope with the devastation brought by the twin disaster that rock the country to its knees.

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